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嘉年华会 (jiā nián huá huì) — carnival (event or festival)

Definition

A direct loanword from English 'carnival' — a festive public event with rides, games, and performances. Often interchangeable with 狂欢节 (kuánghuānjié) in mainland usage.

idiom
carnival (event or festival)

Examples

  • 嘉年华会。
    Zhè ge zhōu mò yǒu yí gè hěn dà de jiā nián huá huì.
    There is a big carnival this weekend.
  • 嘉年华会。
    Hái zi men zài jiā nián huá huì shàng wán dé hěn kāi xīn.
    The children had a great time at the carnival.
  • 嘉年华会。
    Qù nián de jiā nián huá huì lái le yí wàn duō rén.
    Over ten thousand people came to last year's carnival.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

嘉年华carnival
嘉jiā年nián华huá
音译Transliteration
会huìgathering

嘉年华 gives the carnival sense, and 会 gives the sense of a gathering.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
壴壴zhù
Sound part声符shēngfú
加
加jiā嘉jiā
Same sound today

嘉 is built from 壴, the part tied to its sense, and 加, the part tied to its sound.

Open 嘉 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 華; 华 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 華 showed flowers on a plant, with stalk and leaves below. The simplified 华 is a later shorthand and not the original picture.

Open 华 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →
Appears in
Festivals & Holidays

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